Light of the Moon
by msgone
Summary: Catacombs can be a dark and dangerous place. Nate and Sully uncover evidence of a secret organization that will shake them to the core. U3 mentions, T for language.NatexSullyxElena.
1. Chapter 1

Light of the Moon

Chapter 1

A cough sounded somewhere in the dark expanse of the ruins. To an outsider, the grounds looked as normal as they had for the past hundred or so years. Only a trained eye could catch the debris floating off the stones like the seeds of a dandelion.

"How do we always manage to get ourselves into shit like this Sully?" he paused for a moment waiting to hear a response from the older man.

"Sully?", Nate asked turning around to look for his mentor. Not seeing Sully behind him sent him into a panic.

"Sully!" he called again. Still, no response. Sully had been right behind him when the tunnels started to collapse. Turning on his heel, he ran back down the dimly lit corridor.

"Shit, shit, shit… Sully!" The light bouncing off the stones only served to make Nate more anxious.

Squinting his eyes Nate thought he could make out a..a…was that a hand?

"No…" Nate said, eyes growing wide as he unconsciously slowed his pace. "Sully?"

On the other side of the fallen stones Nate could make out a light flickering in the darkness. For a moment he couldn't move. The paralyzing fear gripped him that Sully might be gone. Grief, regret, and shame washed over him all at once, but were quickly banished when he saw the hand twitch and a soft moan come from the rubble.

"Sully!"

Nate swiftly began uncovering his friend. He heard a cough and a hiss of pain.

"Sully, I'm coming. Are you okay?"  
>"Nate?" It was barely audible.<p>

"It's me, Sully, I'm coming." Nate ripped away stones and old rotted boards. The weight of the rocks and the splinters from the wood meant nothing to him compared to the man that was underneath it all.

"Keep talking to me Sully, I'm almost there." Nate stopped for a minute to listen for Sully's response. All he got was loud ragged breathing.

"Sully?" Nate said again as he reached for Sully's hand. Once his fingers made contact with the other man's hand, he felt a strong squeeze. Breathing a sigh of relief Nate used his other hand to pat Sully's.. Nate made quick work of sifting through the rubble to get to Sully. A couple more minutes in and he had Sully's entire upper torso uncovered. Sully's eyes were closed and he seemed to be concentrating on breathing. No words were spoken until Nate completely uncovered his mentor.

"Trying to get your beauty rest?" Nate asked as he crouched down and looked at him worriedly.

There was a gash on the side of Sully's head and the blood that had wept from it turned his graying hair red. Besides the gash Nate couldn't see anything else wrong. It was hard to tell in the white-wash of the light how pale Sully was, if he was at all. He probably had a concussion.

"Sounds like you've smoked way too many cigars." Nate said noting Sully's wheezing.

Sully grimaced then let out a strained chuckle. "Always the wise-ass aren't ya? Help me up, kid." He breathed out.

Nate grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him upright. Sully gasped and fell into Nate.

"Whoa, easy there old man, if you wanted a hug you coulda just said so," Nate said trying to hide his concern.

As Sully was busy trying to steady himself, Nate grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look him in the eye. It became clear that Sully was having trouble focusing. No sooner than he was on his feet, Sully brought his hand up to his head, his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees with an undignified grunt.

"Okay, okay, I gotcha," Nate said kneeling next to Sully.

"Shit, kid…the world's spinning," he said as he leaned heavily on Nate.

"Come on, we need to get you outta here." Nate said trying to drag Sully to his feet again.

"No.. not yet…" Sully grimaced clutching his head, then fell forward again, this time unconscious.

"Crap." Nate whispered.

Nate gently lowered Sully back to the ground.

"What the hell were you doing?" Nate asked out loud. He looked in the immediate area that he found Sully in. There among the stone and dust he saw a leather strap. It was the same color as the rest of his gear.

"Huh…"

Picking it up he was surprised by the weight of it. It looked just like his pouch that was kept on his belt. Reflexively he reached for the pouch, and his hand came in contact with nothing.

"What the hell?"

Looking down at his belt he saw that his pouch was gone. The straps on the pouch in hand looked as though time and friction had worn away the leather until it was weak enough to break.

"Shit," Nate said as he grit his teeth and inhaled sharply.

He wasn't going to hear the end of it from Sullivan when he came to. It was such a rookie mistake, him not keeping up with his gear. Sighing heavily, Nate cast a guilty glance at Sully.

…OooO…OooO…OooO…

Victor Sullivan slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he did, his vision was assaulted with the streaks and haze of a blinding light. Blinking furiously he tried to clear his vision. He was back in the hotel and he had one hell of a headache. His eyes lazily took in the room. It was early morning judging by the light that filtered in through the window. There in the corner next to his bed sat Nate, slouched in a chair, head leaned back against the wall.

Sully smiled seeing the kid sitting in the corner. He was snoring loudly and had his mouth slightly open. It always made him chuckle. He noticed the dark circles under Nate's eyes and wondered just how long he'd been out of it for. Nate had the contents of a pouch spread out on the table in front of him. Sully lifted his hand to his face to scratch his chin and he noticed an alarming amount of stubble. It had to be at least 3-4 days worth. He didn't remember much about their trip. Sullivan knew he didn't walk out of there, that's for sure. He was stiff from lying in the bed, but still very tired.

Trying to sit up took a lot of exertion, not to mention was painful. As he tried to slide up in the bed he let out a loud yelp that pulled Nate from his sleep.

"Wha.." Nate started as he prepared for a fight. His features softened as he looked down seeing that Sully was now awake.

Nate sat down on the bed next to him and pulled him into a right hug. Sully let out another loud yelp.

"You're not allowed to do that again."

"What the hell are you talking about kid?"  
>"Don't scare me like that again. You've been unconscious for the better part of a week."<p>

"If you ask me it sounds like the worst part of the week." Sully said as he tried to peel Nate off him.

Finally Nate pulled back and gave Sully some room.

"Doc said you have a severe concussion and that you were extremely lucky, blah, blah. If those rocks had hit you any harder it would've fractured your skull. You already got bruised ribs." Nate said looking away from him guiltily.

"Well that explains a lot."

"You don't remember?"

"I remember us being down in those tunnels, but everything else… no dice."

Nate looked Sully in the eye and he could swear that he almost saw tears there. "It's my fault you got hurt Sully. I'm sorry." Nate tore his eyes away from Sully's face and picked at his fingernails.

Sully looked at Nate knowingly, "Shit happens kid. You know that better than most. You can't blame yourself for things you don't have any control over."

"But…"

"Did you throw the rocks at me in the tunnels?"

"No, but.."

"Then drop it kid. We both lived. It's fine."  
>"Alright, but we aren't going anywhere for another couple weeks, at least." Nate said as he got up. "We can go back to the tunnels and recheck the area you were in when everything collapsed. You might have been onto something when you put these things in this pouch."<p>

Nate picked up something and the light glinted off it and hit Sully in the eyes.

"I think we're going to need to shut those curtains. My head can't take much more of this damned light." Sully squinted his eyes as he lifted his hand to block the sun.

Nate smiled as he walked over to the mini-fridge in the room. Sully couldn't make out what he grabbed, but he thought it was booze.

"Great minds think alike. I could go for a stiff drink right now."

Still smirking Nate walked back over to Sully's bed, "I don't know about that, but doctor's orders." Nate placed the bottle down on the night stand beside Sully and immediately bolted.

"If this is your way of telling me that you're on the same page as me with my age, I don't like it." Sully picked up the bottle of Ensure and threw it at Nate as he tried to duck into the bathroom.

Sully rolled his eyes as he heard the childish laughter coming from the bathroom. He was going to get him for that one.

…OooO…OooO…OooO…

_Author notes:_

_Ok…. I am attempting a new fanfic for my other obsession right now.. Uncharted. I hope I do it justice! Story alerts are awesome, but reviews are golden! Should I end it here as a one-shot, or keep it going?_

_Jenn_

_As always… I do not own the rights to anything Naughty Dog related. Just simply enjoy the material. If I do continue this story, all aspects of the adventure will be completely fictional except the names of locations._


	2. Chapter 2

Light of the Moon

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

* * *

><p>"Well, I think that you were about here." Nate said as he studied the ground. "Are you sure you don't remember anything?"<p>

Sullivan pinched his chin as he was in deep thought. "I think I was over here."

Over the last 2 weeks both Nate and himself had been trying to jog his memory, but precious little had come back. Sully had to tell Nate that it was probably gone for good and they needed to go back to the scene. Nate had grudgingly agreed saying that Sully still needed to take it easy. Sully had just rolled his eyes and walked out of the hotel. He couldn't really blame the kid for being so worried. This trip was the first one that he agreed to go on since they'd gotten back from Iram. Whatever happened to him in there to scare him like this must have been bad. He still wouldn't talk about it other than to say he thought he'd lost him. Nate's clinginess and restless nights had spoken volume enough though.

"…..Earth to Sullivan.." Nate was waving a hand in front of Sully's eyes.

Sully ignored him and walked a little further towards a wall. Reaching out, he felt along the stones willing a memory to come back. Then turning suddenly, he almost ran deeper into the catacombs.

"Sullivan!" Nate yelled chasing after him.

Sully had only gone a few feet ahead and Nate had grossly misjudged the distance between them. Nate sidestepped him, barely, and tripped over some debris in the middle of the tunnel. He stumbled into a wall as he tried to keep himself from falling.

"Kid, I don't know what is going on in that head of yours.. but I'm not some feeble old man that can't take care of himself." Sully said as he massaged the bridge of his nose. Looking back at Nate he saw that he had his eyes downcast. He walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can appreciate what you went through on our last trip, but this," he gestured around him, "Was supposed to be a vacation if you recall."

"I know," Nate said shrugging Sully's hand off his shoulder. "It's just…..I..I'm sorry."

Nate looked away from Sullivan, "I have been acting like a girl, haven't I?"

Sully looked past Nate to an area that they hadn't noticed before. He chuckled, Nate had been acting out of sorts lately, but he wasn't going to call him out on it. Victor just figured that the kid would realize what a ninny he was being and get over it soon enough.

Clearing his throat, Sullivan reached out his arm and placed it over Nate's shoulders gently guiding him into the area he just discovered. Nate was so despondent that he didn't notice at first what Sully was doing.

"It's alright, kid. I'm not sure I'd be any different if the roles had been reversed." He actually knew that he wouldn't, he hadn't. When he thought that Nate was dead he'd sunk down to a deep depression. He allowed Marlowe and her group to pull his strings like he was a puppet, until he heard Nate's voice calling to him in the desert.

"So, why don't we just move on passed this, and you can explain what the hell is in this room." Sully gestured upwards with his other hand.

Nate blinked a couple of times confused. "Crafty old bastard," he said as he lightly punched him the arm.

Sully watched Nate's face light up as he peered at the room from below. Not giving it a second thought Nate started to climb, finding footholds in areas Victor didn't believe was possible.

"You know, I think with all the sifting and picking at the rocks we did down there we must have knocked loose a key structural area of this floor."

"Leave it to you to point out the obvious."

"Very funny."

"I thought so."

"Hey, I think there's some rope over here. Let me test it, then, I'll send it down if it's any good."

Sully leaned back against the wall and started to light one of his infamous cigars. Immediately, he kicked off the wall and listened. He heard gears starting to move inside the wall and groaned.

"Uh… kid?" Receiving no response he raised his voice, "Nate!"

"Huh…. Yeah what's up?"

"Something's going on down here. I can hear gears moving in the wall."

Nate eyed him suspiciously, "What did you do?"

Sully just make a noise and starred at the wall. Within a few seconds a part of the wall began to slide down into the floor. Angling his flashlight into the darkened area Sully took a step forward in the newly opened spot.

"Huh….it's a staircase kid," looking up at Nate he just pointed back to the stairs and said, "I'm gonna take the easy way up."

Nate just chuckled to himself and watched Sully climb up. A moment later Nate heard the grinding of stones and saw the wall open up on the other side of the hole in the floor.

"Well this was unexpected."

"Ehh… not so much," Nate stated from across the room.

"Really, so you knew that this staircase would lead to this side of the room?"  
>"It was a good guess?" Nate said casting a sideways glance at Sully.<p>

"Hey kid, didn't you say that some of Elena's family was from around this area?"  
>"Yeh, why?"<p>

"Some of these trinkets look awfully familiar." Sully picked up something that looked like a very old sextant.

Nate finally started to take in everything around him. There were scrolls and blueprints strewn around the room, some on parchment, some papyrus. Upon glancing at them the differences of each spoke of their age and Nate couldn't make any sense of it.. Some only seemed to be about 4-500 years old, the ones that were in worst shape seemed a fair amount older than that. The largest one of the prints hung on the wall, in a frame that couldn't have been more than about 500 years old.

"Is… is that what I think it is?" Nate said as he moved around to get a better look.

Sully chuckled, "The frame, or what's in it?"

"Well now that you mention it..both." Nate said as he admired the craftsmanship of the frame.

"Original blueprints of the Pharos of Alexandria, wow. It's a wonder they survived this long."

"Nate, I don't have it in me to deal with anymore secret organizations. And this place reeks of it."

"Sully… where's your sense of adventure?"

"I think I left it back in Ubar." Sully grumbled under his breath.

Nate quirked an eyebrow hearing Sully, "So that's it, you're throwing in the towel now?"

"You're like a goddamn dog with a bone, you know that, and yes, I am gearing up for one of my 'I'm too old for this speeches'."

Nate huffed and looked away from Sully.

"Kid, look at me," he paused for effect refusing to continue until he had Nate's attention, "Thank you." He said when Nate turned his head again.

"Look, over the past few years our adventures have gotten more and more formidable. I only meant for us to come on this trip as a vacation. I think we've deserved it. I wasn't actually expecting us to find anything."

"Well, we did. Now what?" Nate said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Now, I say that we take a look around grab some things to take back with us and study them. Then we call your wife."

With that said, Nate's demeanor changed. "You really think that any of this could tie back to her family?"

"Anything is possible, but I think that it's more important that you keep Mrs. Drake apprised."

Nate picked something up off the table in front of him. It was a signet ring.

"Maybe you're right. It would be nice to have her with us from the start of one of these 'adventures'. Wouldn't hear the end of it if we started this without her, this signet ring has the mark of her family."

* * *

><p><em>Author Notes:<em>

_kay, so I'm not 100% in love with this chapter... So I may tweek it out a little later, fair warning!  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

Light of the Moon

Chapter 3….25 Days Later

Drawing in a shaking breath Nathan Drake contemplated how he'd gotten himself into his current situation. He was tired, and he was weak. He had no qualms in admitting it. He'd lost track of the days he'd been held captive, much less how long it had been since he'd been checked on. It seemed to have been several. No food, no water. He was just left in this small cell. He could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance, tormenting him because he couldn't stop it, or drink it. He was lying on his side, having given up trying to break out quite a long time before. He didn't have the energy to get up, or call out. Nate felt a tear trickle down his cheek as he thought about Elena and Sully. It was getting hard to keep his eyes open again. With a rasping sigh, he closed his eyes, praying for rescue, or a release from this Hell.

OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO

"He's been missing for how long, and you didn't tell me?" Elena stomped through the rubble trying to find any signs of her wayward explorer.

"When we started getting threats warning us to stay away, we, and I do say, we, decided it would be best not to bring you in on this."

Sully paused a moment to take a draw off his cigar. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out the signet ring he and Nate had discovered a month ago.

"Would you slow down a minute? I'm not as young as I used to be."

Elena came to a dead stop in the middle of the corridor, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sullivan approached her cautiously, she was still fuming. Reaching out to take her hand, he placed the ring in it.

"This is why we wanted to bring you here in the beginning."

Elena looked down into her hand, she wanted to stay angry, but her curiosity was peaked. Turning the ring over and over in her hand, she stared at it in disbelief. She paled remembering a conversation she'd had with her father.

"Oh god.." Elena gasped bringing her hand to her lips. "This isn't good Sully, this isn't good at all."

It was his turn to be confused. "You know about this?"

"When I was younger, I found a hidden compartment in the attic of the house I grew up in." Elena leaned against a wall as she continued. "I thought it was so cool that we had such a mystery in our own home. It's what lead me to be an Investigative Reporter. I didn't tell anyone, I wanted it to be a surprise when I'd researched it and presented it to my folks. The surprise was mine though."

Elena sighed looking at the pattern on the ring.

"My father came in my room to check on me, because I'd apparently been immersed for hours in books from the library. He saw a ring just like this and a piece of parchment on my desk. I'd never seen him look so scared. He grabbed my arms and hauled me out of my chair, demanding to know where I got these things from. When I told him he seemed relieved."

Sitting down cross legged on the ground, she felt a tear slip out and wiped it furiously.

"That's when he told me about this part of my family. They were charged to protect some ancient mystery surrounding Greece and Egypt."

Elena took in a breath and sighed heavily, "These people are ruthless Sully. If they've got Nate.."

Sully seemed a little shaken by what he just learned. Placing a hand on her shoulder he said, "We're going to find him. I've got this."

Sully was waving a thermal imager in front of her.

Elena just laughed, "What are you a member of T.A.P.S?" She laughed harder when Sully asked, "Who?"

"I guess you don't follow my career very much." Elena smiled at him. "I was a guest star on Ghost Hunters International a few years back."

"Yeh, I don't know what that is, but if you're already familiar with the equipment, you can use this," Sullivan said as he handed her the imager, "And I'll use this."

Elena stood up, "Is that what I think it is?" she asked as she walked closer to him.

"Yep, as long as his heart is beating, and his watch is on I can find him within 2-3 miles."

Wrapping Sully in a forceful hug she exclaimed, "Sully, you beautiful, beautiful man!"

"Well, how did you think I always manage to show up in just the right spot, at just the right time?"

OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO

"Oh no," Sully said as he fiddled with the tracking device.

"What is it?"

Elena was doing short sweeps through every room they passed looking for any heat signatures to pop up.

"I think we need to hurry, the signal is getting closer, but weaker too. I don't think Nate's doing so good."

"What do you mean, Sully?"

"Well, I thought that it was just a glitch at first, maybe the batteries were low. I changed them. It isn't. We need to step it up a notch."

Elena stood for a moment just staring at Sully, the man who was like a father to her husband, who tried to make everything out to be nothing. He was now saying that Nate was running out of time. No candy coating of any kind, no optimism. He met her eyes and she saw an eternal sadness in them. Tears wanted to be there, but he choked them down. His tight lipped stare into her eyes was all she needed to get moving. She wasn't losing Nate, not now, not ever if she could help it.

After about another hour of searching, Elena caught a dull blip on the thermal imager.

"Sully!" she shouted. Looking down at the door she noticed that there was a key in the lock. She turned it and opened the door. It took her a moment to collect herself before she ran to Nate.

OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO

Nate barely registered being shaken and slapped across the face. He opened his eyes only a slit and found his vision to be bleary and distorted at best. Someone was in here with him, that's all his mind would comprehend.

He tried to speak, but only let out a frail dry cough. The same person that was in here with him put their fingers to his lips to silence him. He was being shifted to a sitting position. He released a loud groan and a grimace as hands touched his shoulder. The hands were gentile, but probing. He felt something wet touch his lips and immediately licked them. They were severely chapped and dry. He didn't know who this was that was helping him, but he accepted it gratefully.

Blessed water, he felt it slide down his throat, but his body seemed to have forgotten how to swallow properly. He gagged and coughed and tried to draw in several deep breaths as he leaned heavily on the person supporting him.

OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO

Elena wanted to cry, to scream. She was expecting anything but what she saw in front of her. They really just locked him in the room and left him there. God only knows how much longer Nate would have survived in state he was in. His skin was sickly pale, his face gaunt, eyes dark and sunken. There was something embedded in his shoulder, it looked like an arrow. An arrow, really?

"Oh god." Elena said as she ran to Nate. "Sully!"

Sully came running in behind her. "Shit."

Elena was hovering over Nate, slapping him, and he wasn't coming to. She started shaking him, and slapping him again. Finally, a low moan came from Nate and his eyes slid open slightly.

"Sully….." came the whispered question. "Elena.." Nate's voice weak as it was cracked on her name.

"Sssh, I'm here baby, it's going to be okay, you're going to be okay." She said as she put her fingers to his lips.

"Sully, help me sit him up."

Elena moved behind Nate to give him some support. Nate winced and drew in a sharp breath through his teeth as Sully looked at his shoulder, then checked elsewhere for further injuries.

"It looks like this is the only external injury. Besides being starved half to death and this damned arrow, it's a wonder his isn't dead already. It's infected, badly. We gotta get him outta here."

"What about the arrow? Are we just going to leave it there?"

"It's been there for a while already. I think he's got blood poisoning. If we can get him lucid enough, get some water and food in him.."

Sully took the lid off his canteen and poured some water in it. He tipped the lid slightly against Nate's lips so just a trickle of water came out. Sully smiled, reflexively, Nate had licked his lips.

"Come on kid, we gotta get your strength back up, little by little. Damn.."

Sully pulled back when Nate started to cough out the water and inhale frantically. On the upside, it seemed to be just enough to get Nate out of his hazed state. Squinting his eyes, Nate finally saw Sully, his eyes opened wider.

"Sully," he croaked out as he tried to reach for his hand. He then noticed the arms that had been encircling him. "Elena?"

"Don't you start that! You can't spare the water right now!" Sully said as he grabbed Nate's hand.

Elena hugged him tighter, "I can't leave you alone for a minute can I?"

"Can you stand? Or walk?"

"I dunno… I'm doing good just to have my eyes open right now."

"Well, I know one thing for certain," Elena said as she started to get up, "We aren't staying here any longer."

Nate coughed harshly.

"Let's try this again." Sully said as he brought the canteen to Nate, "Think you can manage to drink it this time instead of bathing me with it?"

OooO…OooO…OooO…OooO

_Author Notes:_

_Well, this chapter was hard to write… Too many ideas.. and I loved them all, but they wouldn't all work together… meh… But here it is, chapter 3 in all its glory! There will most definitely be a flashback chapter coming soon so you can see how poor Nate ended up in this sticky situation! Stay tuned! _:D

_Jenn_


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